Page 67 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

“That’s what she told you. But it’s not the truth. That’s your baby, Brandon. I didn’t know either. I just found out.”

I don’t understand. “How could you know something like that?”

“They were talking about it,” he says. “Alicia and Kayla. I just walked in on them.”

“What did they say?” He’s got to be mistaken. He’s taking something out of context. There’s no way that’s my kid.

Alicia would have told me if Emmy was mine.

But I’m thinking about her now, trying to remember her face. Trying to compare it with Alicia’s. The two of them definitely look alike, but I think Emmy’s nose might have been…different. And my mind didn’t latch onto it, because of course she would have one or two features from her father, but now that I’m thinking about it, that narrow nose…that’s how mine looks.

But itcan’tbe—can it?

“They were laughing about it, actually,” Lonnie says. “Like the whole thing was some big joke. Kayla asked Alicia if you’d figured it out yet, and Alicia said you hadn’t. And then Kayla asked if Alicia was worried that you would, and Alicia said no, that you were too stupid to ever figure it out. She said before long she’d be out of town anyway, and you never would have known.”

Sheisawfully determined to leave. I don’t want to believe this story, but I can’t pretend it doesn’t square with some of the things I already know about Alicia.

Lonnie’s watching me, and he actually looks a little sympathetic. “I know,” he says. “She’s a bitch. I can’t believe she could do this to you. I always knew she was a slut, but to actually have a guy’s baby and refuse to tell him, even though you two have been spending time together... It’s disgusting. If someone did that tome, I’d tear her throat out. I’d show her who was stupid.”

“I’m not going to attack her.” It comes out automatically. I’m processing my shock, and the anger is settling in now. It’s close to pure rage. I haven’t been this irate in a very, very long time.

How could she have done this?

“She flaunted that kid,” I say. “She let memeether.”

“Well, of course she did,” Lonnie says. “That fits right in with what she was saying to Kayla. They were laughing about how you had your own baby right under your nose and you were too stupid to realize it. I mean, they were really being a couple of little shrews about it. If you’d heard them, you’d havewantedto attack them.”

“You’re saying this because you want me to help you run her out of the pack.” It’s my last grasp at a different explanation.

Lonnie shakes his head. “I know you think that’s the kind of thing I’d do,” he says. “And I admit it. I probably would have. But I’m not. This is absolutely true. She’s yours.”

I’m thinking back on Emmy’s face now, and I can’t see how Lonnie could be lying about this. I think she has my eyes, too. And she’s two years old, and it was three years ago that Alicia and I slept together for the first time…fuck, it all adds up. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.

But I didn’t want to see it. That’s the reason. I understand that perfectly well. I never tried to add up Emmy’s age and compare it to the last time Alicia and I had been together because I didn’t want to know.

Because I wanted to believe that she was dealing with me honestly. That she wouldn’t lie.

But she did lie.

How could she have lied to me about something so important? My own child? How could she have kept her from me?

If she could lie to me about that, it’s perfectly believable that she could have mocked me with her sister. That the whole thing could have been one big joke to her.

And here I was, about to ask her to be my mate.

Alicia’s right. I am an idiot.

40

BRANDON

Isitquietlyinthe corner at Lonnie’s house, my arms folded across my chest. I’m sure the others can see the anger radiating off of me. Alicia’s the one I’m really mad at, of course, but she’s not here, so I’m venting my rage at the rest of them.

Like poor Maddy, Lonnie’s girlfriend. She can definitely be a little tiresome—she’s really young, that’s most of her problem—but she’s never bothered me before. If she wasn’t dating Lonnie, she’d probably be all right. As it is, I kind of feel sorry for her most of the time.

But that’s most of the time. Right now, the only feeling I have room for is anger.

So when I catch Maddy looking at me, I bare my teeth at her. She looks away quickly, obviously startled, and I can’t blame her. I’ve never been aggressive with the younger members of the pack before. They don’t remember the way I was when I was in my teens and early twenties. They think of me as the guy I am now—calm, rational, a balance to Lonnie’s hotheadedness.

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